Tennis elbow from typing. - The Physio Forum

Fraser 1987 · #1 30-09-2009, 10:12 AM

Hello,

Please read this message as it took me a long time to compose in my current state. I am a 22 year old male who has been typing for most of his life, I have just completed a computer science degree and my life is literally on hold until I can use my arms again. Your support is very much appreciated.

Almost seven weeks ago I was diagnosed with tennis elbow in both arms. This was not caused by sporting activities but from typing in awkward positions for long periods of time. I have since been resting my arms and taking anti inflammatory painkillers when inflammation occurs. I have avoided typing as this pulls on the tendons which is incredibly frustrating, I am currently writing to you using speech recognition software.

Around the three week mark I started to notice the pain a lot less. I started doing appropriate exercises as recommended by a Physio, however I must have overdone this as the pain came back later on. This time the pain was mainly in the back of my elbows, this lasted another week or so but the pain has now mostly gone away and I have begun gently exercising again.

What concerns me is how sensitive my arms are, even from basic activities such as cooking I can feel my tendons warning me not to continue. The pain is not that bad but I do not want to disrupt healing. I have heard from other people who have had chronic tendonitis for years and I cannot understand how they have managed. I am in a very lucky situation because I live with people who can help me which allows me to rest my arms completely. I can't understand how others without support can manage. Even with complete rest my arms are still very sensitive, many people must not be able to do this, is this why theirs becomes chronic?

I am worried mine may have become chronic from the over exercising after four weeks. Am I being overly paranoid? The exercise was one where you are holding a weight in your hand and lifting and lowering in slow motion with the rest of your arm supported.
My other question is, how can my tendons heal faster with these exercises? Surely healing would prefer for them to have no strain at all?

Thank you very much for any help or information you can give. My arms are OK now but I still cannot type yet. I am very worried about the slow process of healing.

PhysioP · #2 05-10-2009, 05:29 AM

Gday Fraser. Sorry to hear about your bilateral tennis elbow, not a fun experience by any means. Especially for someone in your line of work.

Tennis elbow is sometimes difficult to manage due to the nature of the human body. It is very rare that we allow the extensor tendons in our arm to rest for a prolonged period of time due to their importance. There are some quick tips if you find your elbows flaring up constantly...

1. Ice massage : Ice massage following any aggravating activity can reduce local inflammation and irritation to the extensor tendons and speed up recovery.
2. Light exercise : The trick with tennis elbow is to find the right level of exercise for your current status. The exercise should be painfree and relatively light. The purpose the the exercise you were given was not just to stretch and strengthen your tendons, it was also to desensitise them. After prolonged rest, the muscle and tendons have to get used to performing their old job. It's like you haven't worked out in a year, and you go do a 3 hour gym session with the biggest loser personal trainers. Your muscles need this "warm up" step to properly return to normal. Stopping all exercise at this point is probably not reducing your chronicity but increasing it. If exercise starts to flare up your symtpoms, refer to point 1.
3. Ergonomics! No this is not a economic term, it refers to how you set yourself up at work and what this is doing to your body! Some quick tips...
Take work breaks (5 minute breaks per hour can greatly reduce symptoms)
Raise your chain / lower your desk. You should have a 10-15 degree downward slope of your arms to your desk when typing. This takes stress of your extensor tendons and helps prevent tennis elbow to some degree.

There is probably a lot of other suggestions from the physio community to helping manage tennis elbow in cases such as yours, I'm just a new grad

i.e. US / STM / etc. etc. But I am at work so have to run.

As allways, before acting on this information please consult with your current therapist / MD.

PhysioP · #3 06-10-2009, 03:50 AM

G'day again.

You can also try some aids in helping to reduce your symptoms.

Here is a link to some common tennis elbow braces. Ausmedic is just one of a large number of suppliers of medical equipment and aids. If price is an issue, just search around!

w w w. a u s m e d i c . c o m / o a a m - b 2 c / O n l i n e / E C o m m e r c e . a s p x

(as I have not posted 5 times I can not insert the link, so please just delete the spaces!

If you need help in choosing a suitable brace please just ask! Thanks! Good luck!

Fraser 1987 · #4 06-10-2009, 01:04 PM

That's great, thanks a lot for your help and advice. I'll be sure to follow some of the tips you suggested!